Last month, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel made the decision to start true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon for the 2026 season.
It sure looked like a genius move on Saturday during a dominant 56-9 victory over Furman at Neyland Stadium.
Alex Golesh probably doesn't feel assured seeing Faizon dominate as he did. Auburn travels to Knoxville on October 3 in its first SEC road game with Golesh at the helm.
It'll be a personal one for the first-year head coach. Golesh was the offensive coordinator under Josh Heupel for two seasons. He doesn't want to be the losing student against his teacher at his old stomping grounds.
Beyond Week 5, though, Brandon's emergence during his true freshman season may make Tiger fans think about an alternate reality where their own recent prized blue-chip true freshman gets the same shot.
Brandon runs Vols offense with enough tempo to nullify AU's strengths
Once Brandon got comfortable with the offense against Furman, he executed Heupel's wide-split spread offense to perfection. Brandon looked like Hendon Hooker in 2022 with his poise and control of the offense. He was crisp and confident, taking off in RPO sets and eluding tacklers like a slippery eel. Throwing the ball, he looked calm and unrushed.
At six-foot-four, Brandon has great field vision. He doesn't force mistakes and already looks like a veteran in the pocket. His 40-yard dash time is around 4.5 seconds. He's a physical specimen with a mind wise beyond his years.
Brandon had a perfect debut. Almost literally. He completed 13/17 passes, three of them for touchdowns, 294 all-purpose yards, and he scored five all-purpose touchdowns against an overmatched Paladins defense.
If you're DJ Durkin trying to figure out how to maximize your aggressive defensive front against a suspect right side of UT's offensive line in a few weeks, Brandon just made you think even harder. Obviously, the FCS opponent wasn't exactly the kind of defense you can project superstardom against, but Brandon couldn't have looked better.
And by the time early October rolls around, Brandon will have faced Texas. That'll mature his game plenty, facing an elite edge rusher like Colin Simmons and a Will Muschamp-coached defense that has the athletes to force turnovers and shut down passing lanes.
He'll also have mileage against Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State. Not to mention plenty of practice time in a competitive SEC program.
October 3 won't be a fun week for Golesh, Durkin, and Co. to prepare for. Brandon is going to keep a pace that may be too much for the Tigers' corners to keep up with. That pace will also be the key to keeping Xavier Atkins and all the athletes on the edge at bay. They can't collapse the pocket if the ball is out of Brandon's hands within two and a half seconds.
Faizon Brandon may give some Auburn fans some Deuce Knight FOMO
For Auburn fans, seeing Brandon put up those kinds of numbers against a SoCon school may remind them of Deuce Knight's one and only start in orange and blue against Mercer last November. Knight was also dominant that night, amassing 401 all-purpose yards and six touchdowns.
Knight didn't get the same season-long chance. Hugh Freeze brought him in during a lame duck year in the head coaching seat and sat him through November. Even the interim coaching staff that replaced Freeze started Ashton Daniels for three of the last four games instead of Knight, though.
Now, the Lucedale, Mississippi, native Knight is at Ole Miss, sitting behind Trinidad Chambliss.
Who knows what could've happened if Knight was given the chance. We likely wouldn't have had Golesh, but Knight likely had the highest ceiling in the room last year.
Oh well.
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